


Demonic Friends

by DarkenedHeart



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: (But this is what I got), (It hides amongst the good.), (Just part Demon), AU, Alternating POVs?, Anger, Deaths of unnamed characters., Demon!Jace, Hugs, Jace and Clary are Siblings, More canon divergence, Protective!Jace, Self-Doubt, Simon gest himself into some trouble., Simon is a fantastic friend., Slightly over-convenient pauses during Fight Scenes, So much made up BLAD it's rediculous., Some canon compliance, The Tags contain SPOILERS!!!, This isn't exactly what I wanted., Tiny touch of Malec, Vampire!Simon, WATCH OUT FOR BAD GRAMMAR!, You have been warned...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 08:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8197412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkenedHeart/pseuds/DarkenedHeart
Summary: So....(APPARENTLY)...I need to get another AU out of my system before I can continue with my first one.Polar opposites and all that jazz.Jace IS Jocelyn and Valentine's son. When he was barely out of diapers he got very, very sick. Valentine was so worried about his son dying, he did the unthinkable. He injected him with demon blood.





	

*A Little Over 16 Years Ago*

 

Jocelyn hums to herself as she pours the soup from the pot into a stone bowl. When she puts the pot back down, she feels a kick from her baby girl growing in her stomach and she puts a hand to the spot. 

"Now, now," she smiles down at the bump as she rubs at it. "You're big brother needs my attention right now. You'll have to wait until you're born before I worry about you."

Jocelyn's smile falters as she thinks about her little boy. Jace had been so sick for so long. The doctors can't explain why the child isn't getting better. All they've been able to do is supply stronger and stronger medicine. If only he was old enough to be given a rune. Ten was the youngest any child has ever received one, but Jace was only two. 

She sighs, thinking maybe she should try speaking with a warlock? It was something she considered all the time, but never acted upon. Relations with the Clave and Downworlders was strained at the moment and she didn't want to be the rock that caused a ripple effect.

Jocelyn shakes her head. For now, Jace was still healthy enough to take his medicine and drink soup. She could find some comfort in that at least as she walks to the little boy's room.

She freezes in the doorway. Her husband, Valentine, is pulling an empty syringe from their son's exposed arm. Whatever it is, it is definitely not medicine. There's only one thing it could be in female Shadowhunter's mind. The only thing her husband had been able to talk about since the fifteenth or so doctor shook their head uselessly at them.

Demon blood.

"What are you doing?" she drops the bowl, its contents splattering across the floor as she stares at her husband in shock.

"Jocelyn, this is the only way," Valentine assures her, putting the empty syringe next to a line of other empty syringes. 

"Is that-Is that demon blood?!" Jocelyn screeches, already knowing what it was but needing the man to confess to it. 

"I'm so sorry, Jace," her husband tries to sound so sorrowful, but Jocelyn KNOWS the man doesn't regret his actions at all. "You're going to be better now, though. You're going to be fine, son."

"Valentine!" Jocelyn clumsily grabs at the small Seraph at her side and points it at her husband. "Get away from him!"

"Jocelyn," Valentine stands, lifting his hands up in surrender as he steps away from their boy's bed. "Let's be reasonable about this. We both know he was dying."

"So you gave him demon blood?" she shouts at him, unable to keep herself calm with the realization making her head pound with her heartbeat. "He could die!"

"He was going to die anyway!" her husband booms back angrily. "I am his father! It's my job to do everything in my power to save him! The doctors are useless! He's too young for a Rune! We can't go to a warlock or any other sort of Warlock without risking a war! What else should I have done? What, Jocelyn?"

"You should have trusted me enough to tell me," she answers, voice finally calming down to a threatening tone. "You should have had faith in our son to pull through this."

Valentine shakes his head, lost for the right things to say, "I couldn't do it Joce. I couldn't watch him gasp for breath anymore. I couldn't lay my head down with the fear that, when I opened my eyes, his might remain closed forever."

 

"Get out."

 

Valentine blinks, startled at his wife's dark tone. "What?"

"Get out!" she raises her voice, taking a threatening step closer to the other Shadowhunter. "Get out of this room! Get out of my house! Leave forever, Valentine and don't you dare try coming back here again!"

"You can't be serious," he stares at her wide-eyed. "This is my home! You are my wife!"

"Not anymore!" Jocelyn shakes her head. "Anyone who would willingly expose demon blood to an innocent child is no one I can stand to look at."

Valentine glances back at his son before nodding to his wife. "I'll go. For a little while so that we can move passed this."

"I will never 'get passed' this," Jocelyn bites out over her tears. "I don't ever want to see you again, Valentine."

Something breaks in the man's heart as he hears the pain in his wife's words. He nods once more, then rushes out of the house.

As Valentine runs from the house, Jocelyn collapses by Jace's side on his bed. Her boy's dark, red hair turns blonde right in front of her as tears streak down her face. 

The next morning, the sickness is gone and Jace is her happy little boy once more...But he's also not.

\---

Jocelyn doesn't know what to do, so she has her son's memories wiped and hands the boy over to the Silent Brothers to be raised. 

Jocelyn keeps track of her son while raising Clary. She never tells her daughter about her older brother. He lives in the world of Shadowhunters, a world Jocelyn was determined to keep her daughter out of. 

Valentine only comes back to the house once, but he and Luke get into a fight and the Shadowhunter flees injured while Jocelyne tends to her new lover's wounds.

The Lightwoods take ten year old Jace in. Their son, Alec, becomes the boy's parabatai. 

Being separated from his wife and children, plus the guilt from his decision to poison his own son, strains Valentine's mind, making him lose focus on what a Shadowhunter was meant to do. When Luke and Jocelyn move in together, he finally loses it and secretly declares war on all Downworlders.

\---

Years later, Valentine resurfaces to go after the Mortal Cup in order to create his army and fulfil his demented duty. 

Clary is a teenager and for the first time, Jocelyn regret not telling her sooner. To protect her, she goes into a spell induced coma, hoping her daughter will be protected by Luke and saved from the world somehow after all.

She never would have guessed the two siblings would come together while she was lost in the world of her dreams. She never would have ever imagined they would feel a pull towards each other that would bond them. She never allowed her imagination to think of them falling in love...

\---

*Present Day*

 

Clary stares at her father as he threatens everyone in the room if Jace doesn't go with him. 

'Could we really be siblings? How could Mom have never told me about this! Everything is wrong! Everything is so, SO WRONG!'

"If I go with you," Jace is speaking again, looking over to Clary and looking as lost as she felt. "You promise not to hurt them?"

"No, Jace!" Clary tries to break out of the arms of the Shadowhunter holding her, but he's too strong and she's too weighed down with emotions to think of anything else to do. If they could just get out of this some how! If-If she could just get to her mother and wake her up! Everything would be better! She just KNOWS it!

 

Simon looks over to his best friend in the whole world as she struggles against her captor. He loved her so much it hurt. It hurt to see her in any pain and this Valentine guy -her own father!- was putting her in the most pain he'd ever seen her bear. 

He couldn't stand it anymore. He wouldn't stand for it anymore. As much as he initially disliked the egotistic Shadowhunter, he was an okay guy in the end. A guy with a possible supervillain Dad and therefor possible sibling connection to a woman he loved.

So as Valentine ushers his 'son' to come to the portal with him, Simon makes a decision.

"No, Alec!" Jace points his sword at the tallest of the teens, stopping him from following after the group.

Alec listens to his 'parabatai' or whatever they are to each other and stays with Magnus. But Jace didn't say anything to Simon and he isn't about to let that big-mouthed big shot walk out on Clary.

Simon uses his new vampire powers to run at Jace and wrap his arms around his middle.

Unfortunately, Simon's plan, as per usual since he and Clary were dragged into this world where nothing is a myth anymore, ends horribly.

Instead of keeping Jace with them in Camille's place, he accidentally pushes the blonde into his father who drags them BOTH through the portal.

Even travelling through the magical transport, Simon swears he can still hear Clary scream his name. 

\---

Simon slams onto the ground on top of Jace. He doesn't have to worry about how awkward that is though, because a second later he's being roughly lifted off the blonde and held several steps away to watch Valentine help the young Shadowhunter to his feet.

"Bring him below," Valentine orders to his minion before turning to Jace. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jace mumbles, staring at Simon as he's dragged away. "What are you going to do with him?"

Simon doesn't get to hear the answer. Which may, or may not be good. He takes that opportunity to look his surroundings over. They're on some sort of boat. A barge or something; he was never very good at nautical nonsense.

 

The goons drag him through a screeching door and down a flight of echoing stairs to a small room that's probably a janitor's closet. They toss him inside and slam the door before he even rams into the wall on the far end. 

"Why me?" Simon groans, rubbing at his head where it hit the metal wall. At least he didn't wear glasses anymore. He probably would have broken them (again). 

It's pitch black in the closet-room and the teen blindly reaches out for either a switch or cord to turn on a light. 

He eventually finds a skinny, frayed string and blinds himself when he looks up as he pulls it.

"Why do I always do that?" he asks himself, blinking away the temporary blindness to look around. There are cleaning and toiletry supplies, as well as a mop and bucket. 

"Definitely a janitor's closet then," Simon sighs. His stomach lurches with the ship and he groans, "Vampires can get seasick? It's probably just me. That would just figure."

He overturns a bucket to sit on it. 'Now what?' He doesn't know where he is but he doubts even his vampire body would be able to swim to safety. Would Jace convince 'his dad' to let him go? Would Valentine tell 'his son' to kill him?"

Simon shivers at that last thought. He doesn't want that to happen, for obvious reasons. If Jace killed him, Clary would be so far beyond heart broken she'd--

He stops himself from thinking about it. It's too dark and he never wants to think about his best friend that way. EVER.

The boat dips and rises noticeable again and Simon puts a hand to his mouth. He can't risk losing anything. He hasn't eaten in hours and there's no food supply on board.

'Well...' He thinks with a cringe. 'There is a certain 'kind' of food source...'

Simon shakes his head as he wraps his arms around himself. Why was he always so stupid? Why couldn't he ever come up with a plan that worked?

Why did he rush at Jace instead of just letting him go?

\---

Clary can't stop crying. She cried after Simon disappeared with Jace and her father. She cried as she waited for Magnus to wake her mother. Then she broke down in uncontrollable sobs when her mother finally opened her eyes and smiled at her.

When her mother told her the truth about Jace and their family, she just kept on crying.

 

"I don't do swooning maidens," Magnus remarks under his breath to Alec. "Not anymore, at least. I'm currently taken."

"I'll contact you if we need you again," Alec nods, dragging his focus away from the mother and daughter to smile at his boyfriend. "Thanks for everything, Magnus."

"Of course," Magnus winks at him, then walks out of the building.

"So Jace and Clary really are...?" Isabelle can't get herself to finish the question. Jocelyn's nod is enough to affirm what she already knew.

"And now Valentine has his son and the Mortal Cup," Alec adds with a deep frown. 

"And Simon," Izzy holds back her tears as she watches her new red-head friend try to collect herself. She turns to Mrs. Fray, "What do you think Valentine will do to Simon? He is a vampire and you said your ex-husband despises Downworlders."

"I honestly don't know," Jocelyn answers, stroking her daughter's hair to comfort her. "He's changed so much over the years. I don't recognize him anymore."

"If he hurts Simon," Clary growls, fighting back the tears as she pulls away from her mother. "I'll kill him myself."

\---

Simon is shaking his head of his latest escape plan when the door to his 'prison' is thrown open. The two goons from before grab him and drag him back up the stairs, through the still screeching door and drop him at Valentine's feet. The man is standing in front of a mass of newly made Shadowhunters. Jace is standing with his hands behind his back two steps away and Simon frowns when the other teen looks away from him.

"Do you see the scum that has infested our world?" Valentine's voice booms in the night air. His men shout in supportive protest. The Shadowhunter looks down at Simon with a sneer. "What should we do with such a vile stain?"

"Kill it!" - "Destroy it!" - "Rid the world of their kind!"

The shouts of hate and violence have Simon shaking where he kneels at his captor's feet. When the glowing blade comes out, he desperately looks over to Jace.

"So, that's it?" Simon's voice wavers and he tightens his hands into fists to focus on his anger that's boiling in his gut. "You're going to let them kill me? Just like that? After everything we've been through?"

"Silence, Downworlder!" Valentine puts the blade to Simon's neck and he swallows on instinct as he stares at it. "You will die alone. Here, in front of your betters. In front of the saviors of the earth. You will die knowing you are nothing more than a disease that needs to be eradicated."

"I didn't ask for this!" Simon shouts back, surprising himself with his bravery. "I never wanted to be part of your world! I was happy being a Mundane! But NO, I had to play Princess Peach of the castle and was turned into a vampire!"

"Then I pity you," Valentine smiles unpleasantly. "But it does not change your fate."

"Fine! You know what? Fine!" Simon shakes his head. "But before you kill me, I'm going to set something straight."

He looks to the blade to let the older man know he wants it removed. Valentine pulls it back and motions for him to stand. Simon does.

Swallowing down his fear, Simon speaks as loudly and confidently as he can, "You!" he points at Valentine, "Are NOT Clary's father!"

The man frowns at him, motioning to his men to stay back and let his victim finish.

"You are a monster who doesn't deserve to be a father!" Simon continues, running on his own flames now. "Clary is the sweetest, kindest, most loving person I have ever met. Meeting you lets me know that there is NOTHING between you other than some genes! And you!" he points to Jace, "You were the most amazing Shadowhunter I have ever met and that is extremely hard for me to admit. I was so jealous about what you and Clary had because I knew, deep down, that I could never become the man you already were." Simon breathes heavily even though he doesn't need to. "I thought, at least, you would be able to protect her. That...if I couldn't stop the bad things form happening that you'd chase them away. So go ahead!" he throws his hands up in the air. "Let them kill me. See how easy looking in the mirror is after that. Because I'm letting you know now, it won't be easy. It will tear that great big heart of yours apart."

"I think those are enough last words," Valentine growls, pointing his blade at Simon again. "Die Downworlder!"

The blade sweeps upwards and Simon closes his eyes. He might bravely face his death, but he doesn't want actually see it coming.

 

Death is taking a long time to come.

 

Simon opens his eyes again and stares at Jace holding Valentine's arms above their heads. The minions don't know what to do.

"What are you doing?" Valentine shouts at the younger Shadowhunter as he struggles against him. "This is what we were made to do!"

"No," Jace finally gets the upper hand to push the other man away. He steps back to stand in front of Simon protectively. "It's not."

Valentine pushes away the offered hands of his men. He points his Seraph at his son, "Don't go against me, son. That creature is not worth this betrayal."

"I won't let you hurt him," Jace tells him firmly, pulling out his own blade.

"Look around you, Jace," Valentine gestures to the others. "We're out in the middle of the ocean. You're surrounded with no means of escape. This isn't a risk, it's suicide! And for what? For that thing that is no longer a human? For a creature of the night? He drinks BLOOD, Jace!"

"He's my friend," Jace answers back, still pointing his weapon at the older Shadowhunter. "If you were really my father, you would understand what that means."

"I am your father," Valentine shakes his head sadly. Then he glares at the blonde, "And as such, I have to do what's best for you." He looks to his minions. "Separate my son from the Downworlder."

The Shadowhunters attack. And so does Jace.

Jace slices at the first man to come at him, keeping himself in between his friend and their enemy. He moves at first to only keep them at bay, to keep them away from Simon, but then one of them jumps over their heads to get at the darker haired teen and Jace doesn't hesitate, doesn't blink, he kills the man before he can kill Simon.

As the body falls to the ground, the other Shadowhunters pause in their attacks to watch their comrade fall. They turn hard glares to the blonde.

"Don't kill my son," Valentine reminds his men, ignoring the body to glare at the boy. "It's the Downworlder's fault. He perverted his mind. THIS is why they must die! So that they cannot turn the hearts of true Shadowhunters and make us fight against ourselves!"

"Jace," Simon nervously pats the other teen on the shoulder. "I'm beginning to worry about your well being. Maybe I should try swimming for it instead? Or maybe lock myself back in that closet and you can sneak me out when we reach a harbor or a port or whatever?"

"Kill the Downworlder!" Valentine orders his men firmly, pointing at Simon. "Free my son from his control!"

"Just in case this ends badly," Simon quickly adds as the others begin to come at them again. "I don't hold any of this against you. I appreciate you standing up for me. Take care of Clary for me, okay? And, like, don't' be evil anymore."

"I won't let you kill him!" Jace growls, muscles flexing in his arms as he tightens his hold on his blade; his shoulders bulking as he hunches over to glare down at his enemy. "I will do everything in my power to stop you."

"You will thank me for this later," Valentine assures him. He looks over his men once more, "No more stalling! Attack!"

Once more they attack and Jace doesn't' hold back.

The first man who goes for them loses his sword wielding arm, the next his life. The third is kicked away and the fourth is viciously punched as Jace retreats back to Simon's side. 

Simon, for his part, picks up a short piece of pipe and swings to at anyone who tries to get behind Jace. 

But the two teens are fighting on a boat of Shadowhunters. Ones that don't play by the rules and who were willing to do anything to please their new leader.

A man, tall and bulky, approaches Jace behind the two men he's currently fighting.

"Watch out for Igor!" Simon warns his friend as he swings at another Shadowhunter coming at him.

Jace does his best but the man, through raw strength alone, gets his blade away from him and grabs his neck in a choke hold. Four other Shadowhunters quickly subdue Simon after that and have the vampire, once again, at Valentine's feet.

"Crap," Simon closes his eyes as the man's blade rises to the sky once more. "Crap. I'm sorry, Clary. Crap. Crap. Crap."

 

"How. Dare. You."

 

Simon's eyes spring open as he flinches. The deep, venomous voice sounded like it came from close by, but from who? He looks around at the startled faces surrounding him and follows their line of sight to Jace. He jumps a little again at seeing the blonde. One of Jace's eyes is completely black. He's no longer struggling against the mass of muscle holding him. He's glaring at Valentine and smirking at him like he wants to devour him whole.

'What the heck?" Simon swallows nervously.

"That boy is mine," Jace speaks and the deep voice comes out instead of his normal one. Simon just stares at him. "Let us go now or you will all die."

All the Shadowhunters laugh, except for Valentine; he can only slowly put his blade down as he gapes at his son.

"Jace?" Valentine's voice is far too quiet and small for the maniac he was. "What? Son?"

"Oh, yes," Jace chuckles and it sends shivers down Simon's undead body. "I remember being your son now. I remember what you did to me on that day."

The blonde loosely wraps his hand over the wrist holding his neck...and twists it away from his body -with the man screaming out in pained protest- to then shove his captor away like a toy.

"I remember owing you a debt, Valentine Morgenstern," Dark Jace continues. "One that I will readily fulfill, if you don't release what is mine."

"I did what I had to in order to save your life!" Valentine protests angrily. He points is blade to Simon once more, the tip almost touching the teen's face. "Downworlders deserve to die!"

"Then I suppose that makes us enemies," Dark Jace shrugs. Then he smiles, "Which I don't mind too much, really."

Simon blinks and the Shadowhunter has him freed from the men holding him. 

"What-?" Simon stumbles to stay on his feet as Jace pulls him away from the others. "Are you tapping into secret powers right now? Because, I will admit, this is the perfect time for that."

 

Jace isn't' listening. He's too busy killing Shadowhunters. 

"Woah!" Simon shouts at the teen as he goes from one person to the next in short spurts, stabbing his sword through their chests from the back to the front. Simon could see the glow of the blade almost 'blink' on and off as he went from victim to victim.

'This is madness!' Simon finally gets his mind to catch up with his body in order to shout out, "JACE STOP!"

The blonde freezes, blade stuck in his latest victim as he turns his two-toned eyes to the vampire.

"You're not a monster!" Simon tells him, hoping he was right about that. He didn't know what had changed the Shadowhunter but he blamed Valentine for it more than the teen. "You have to calm down! Take a breath, buddy."

Something flickers in Jace's expression as he pulls his blade out of the other Shadowhunter and lets the lifeless body fall to the ground. 

Their enemy stands in stunned silence at the bodies littering the ship's deck. Valentine looks them over, face devoid of any feeling.

 

A light sparks in the control room, catching Jace and Simon's attention, as well as a few of the Circle Member Shadowhunters.

Luke, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, Clary, and Jocelyn come running out to the deck and stop in a fighting position as they stare at the scene in front of them.

"Jace! Simon!" Clary runs to her best friend who is closest and wraps her arms around him. "You're alive! Thank the angel!"

"Since when do you start saying things like that?" Simon weakly jokes, knowing it was a bad time for it but needing to let some of his nerves out. 

When the red-head moves to go to Jace, the blonde holds up a hand and Simon holds her back.

"What's wrong?" Clary asks, worriedly watching her brother turn away form her. "Jace?" She turns to glare at her father, "What did you do to him now?"

"I'm so sorry," Valentine nearly whispers. "I just wanted to make the world better."

"By being the world's worst father?" his daughter shouts. 

"Maybe we can have this lovely domestic at a more tasteful venue?" Magnus suggests, nervously watching what was left of the army in front of them.

"Magnus is right," Alec agrees, bow out and arrow ready in case they were attacked. He looks over to his parabatai. "Jace! Come with us!"

"Alec-I," Jace looks over to the other teen with the half of his face that has the normal eye. Simon breathes easier, even though he doesn't have to, when he hears the teen's normal voice. "You don't...I..."

"Jace," Jocelyn steps towards her son, Luke protectively staying two steps behind her. "I...This is all my fault. I am so sorry."

"This isn't your fault, Mom," Clary assures her mother with a tight smile. She glares over to her father. "This is all because of HIM."

"You know, I really think we should do this somewhere else," Magnus speak up again, feeling the unease in the bitter cold air. "I'll even play host. I've got a lovely new spread I can take us to, so can someone grab the angsty little blonde so we can hit the road?"

"Magnus..." Alec warns his boyfriend under his breathe.

"What? Confrontation makes me uneasy."

Simon pulls away from his best friend and tells her, "Let me."

Clary nods to him and he walks over to Jace, only vaguely eyeing the men who still want him dead as he does so.

"Jace?" Simon reaches forward with one hand nervously. "It's okay, man. We can go now. I don't think these guys want to go for round two, or three, or whatever I wasn't really counting."

"Simon," Jace shakes his head. "You...saw. I can't-Clary doesn't deserve to have to deal with that."

"No one deserves to deal with whatever you're going through," Simon tells him firmly, not allowing himself to even think of leaving the other teen behind. "Listen, I clung to you once to get you to stay with us, I'm not above clinging to you again."

"I don't know what I am anymore," the blonde says so quietly only Simon can hear him; which is probably best because the words sound lost and broken. "What if I try and hurt you? What if I try and hurt Clary or the others?"

"What if the world ends and we all end up as zombies?" Simon quips, then shakes his head when it only gets his friend to frown more. "Listen, these guys are not friendly. I'm surprised Luke hasn't had to go all mad dog on them to keep them at bay. Which is not the point, sorry, my POINT is, you belong with us! You are part of our family, not Valentine's demented army."

Jace finally lifts his head to stare at Simon with his two-toned eyes. "How can you know that? What makes you so sure?"

"Because I am an excellent judge of character," Simon smiles at him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "And I know that you're not an evil monster or Valentine's son. You're Jace Wayland, the most amazing Shadowhunter in the world."

Clary smiles at her best friend and brother as Jace nods. Her heart finally feels like it can stop beating out of her chest as the two start to walk towards her.

"Jace," Valentine calls to his son, having finally broken of his stunned trance. "You can't go. You belong with us. With me!"

"He belongs with his family!" Clary bites back. "He belongs to be with the people who love him. People who care about him! You belong in a dark cell to rot!"

"Clary," Jocelyn takes her daughter by the arm when it looks like she's going to charge her father. "Let's go home."

"Finally," Magnus rolls his eyes as he turns to open a portal. "I'll take you all to my place, the little one in Brooklyn. That way you can hash out your family feels."

When Valentine lifts his hand, Alec aims his bow at the man.

"Let us go, Valentine," Jocelyn tells her ex-husband. She shakes her head. "There's no need for anymore bloodshed."

He smiles fondly at his children, "Not tonight."

 

Alec, Isabelle, and Luke stare down their enemies as their group go for the portal. Luke is the last one to step through it and Magnus closes it on the other end the second he arrives.

\---

Magnus, the Lightwood siblings, and Luke give the Fray family some space by staying in the warlock's living room while they use the bedroom to talk. Simon, without thinking, goes with them as well.

Jocelyn starts them off by retelling her story to her son. Clary holds Jace's hand as their mother explains everything. The blonde stares straight ahead like a soldier as he listens and Simon can't stop his mouth from opening more and more with every new sentence the woman said.

"I'm sorry, Jace," Jocelyn wipes the tears from her eyes as she looks at her son. "I shouldn't have let this happen. I shouldn't have kept the secrets that I did. I just...I didn't know what to do. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to be safe."

"You did your best, Mom," Clary reaches out to take her mother by the hand. She looks at her brother, "Jace? Are you okay?"

He looks over to the red-head as if to say something, but instead shakes his head and stands, walking over to the opposite side of the wall where Simon was standing.

Jocelyn keeps her daughter's hand to stop her from following after her brother.

"I know this is a lot to take in," the woman adds softly. "I won't blame you for hating me. I just hope that you won't turn to your father because of what I did. You're still a good man, Jace. You're still my son and I will always love you. No matter what."

"Except you gave me up," Jace remarks darkly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You love me but you couldn't stand to be around me."

Clary stomps to her feet, "That's not true, Jace! Our mother was protecting you!"

"How? By giving me away? By pretending that she didn't know who I was?" her brother punches the wall, it breaks inward, making a small hole and brings an uneasy silence to the room. "She says 'sorry' and I'm just supposed to take it and move on like a big happy family?"

"No," Jocelyn puts up a hand to stop her daughter. "You have every right to be angry. I'm angry at myself. I'm not expecting forgiveness, Jace. I know what I did. I know it was wrong. I'm only asking that you don't blame yourself or go chasing after your father thinking you're just like him, because you're not. You're my son more than his. You are special, a gift, something to be cared for, not experimented on or controlled."

"I'm a monster," Jace growls through clenches teeth, pulling his hand away from the broken wall. "I'm a demon!"

"And an angel!" his mother counters, rising to her feet as well. "And no matter what, you are my son. You are a good man. Don't let what you think you are change what you really are inside."

"What I am inside is nothing more than the thing I kill."

Jace strides out of the room, not even bothering to look at his family as he leaves the warlock's apartment as quickly as he can.

 

"What have I done?" Jocelyn covers her face with her hands as the tears begin to fall. She sinks back onto the bed as Clary wraps her arms around her. 

"It's okay, Mom," Clary tries to assure her, but her tone isn't very convincing. She rubs at her mothers back as she continues to hold her. "Jace just...He just needs some time."

Simon decides to give the two women some space and leaves the room.

 

"What happened?" Izzy asks him the second he closes the door. "Why did Jace run out of here? What's going on?"

"I'm assuming you know Jocelyn is his mother, right?" Simon counters with his own question.

"We know everything," Alec assures him before his sister can.

"Let's just say Jace didn't take the news very well," Simon sighs. "He...needs some time to think it through. Let it all sink in and stuff. But I don't think he'll be joining Valentine any time soon."

"Let's hope not," Magnus remarks with a small grimace. "It was hard enough tracking you two down the first time."

"How did you do that?" Simon asks them.

"I traced your cell," Luke answers with a smirk. "It's a good thing you kept it charged and on, otherwise we would have no way of tracking you guys down."

"Huh, my phone?" Simon pulls it out and smiles at it. "What a wonderfully 'Mundane' thing to do."

"Don't let it go to your head," Alec remarks. "Mundanes are still pretty much useless."

"You know, you guys can be sickeningly negative sometimes, you know that?"

Isabelle pulls Simon in for a hug, "I'm glad you and Jace are safe."

"Me too," he hugs her back. "I just hope Jace can pull himself together after this."

"What happened on that boat, Simon?" Luke asks as the teens let go of each other. "How did all of those Shadowhunters die? Did they not survive the transformation?"

"I'm not sure," Simon answers honestly. "There was a lot going on at once."

Luke doesn't completely look like he believes him, but he nods anyway to accept the answer.

"Great," Magnus claps his hands together. "Can I offer anyone a drink?"

\---

Isabelle gets Simon some blood before going back to headquarters with her brother and the Fray women to report to the Clave about Valentine.

"We'll be back after we've figured out a way to track my father down again," Clary assures her best friend as she hugs him right before leaving.

"I'll be here," he tells her with a smile. The sun is out, so there isn't anywhere he CAN go until it drops again.

Luke makes sure to hug Simon before he goes back to his pack and Magnus disappears without a word after his boyfriend leaves.

So Simon takes a nap in the warlock's apartment.

\---

Ever since turning into a vampire, Simon has become a light sleeper. He once woke up six times when a cricket decided his room at the hotel was a great place to start chirping in random intervals. So when the door to the apartment opens, Simon is wide awake and sitting up before the person who opened it can walk through.

Jace slams the door closed behind him as he strides into the living room to glare out at the scenic view of the apartment. He didn't even look at Simon.

'Okay then.' Simon clears his throat. He doesn't get the other teen's attention, but he decides to talk to him anyway, "Did you have a nice walk?"

His question is answered with silence.

'This is going to be really hard.' Simon heaves a heavy sigh. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" Jace counters testily. "About the fact that everything Valentine said about me is true? Or the fact that I'm a monster?"

"You're not a monster, Jace." A flashback of a confrontation between himself and Raphael plays in Simon's head as he stands. "You're just a little cooler now."

"Cooler?" the blonde repeats as he turns a glare to Simon. "You might be a vampire, but you're still a Mundane! There's nothing 'cool' about having demon blood in me, Simon. There's nothing 'cool' about changing into a blood-thirsty creature!"

"Don't I know it!" Simon counters, enjoying the look of shocked confusion on his friends face for it. "I'm a vampire now, remember? You were there when Clary decided to let you BURY ME. I came out as a monster. Does that mean I should throw away everything I've ever known about myself? Should I start stalking people in the night? Watching gorgeous women sleep in their beds through the window like some creeper?"

"Are you making a movie reference?" Jace narrows his eyes at the other teen. "This isn't the time for your lame jokes."

"Sarcasm is my natural defense against stupidity," Simon shrugs. "I know I don't get everything you're going through. You're dad is evil, I'm sorry. That really sucks. But you aren't him. You aren't evil just because your dad is. Just ask Luke Skywalker."

"I may not be evil because of who he is," Jace allows but his tone hasn't changed. "But I am evil because of what's inside me."

"Then you need to talk to Alec about his choice in boyfriends because, last I checked, he was part demon too. Or did I get that mixed up?" Jace turns away from him again, so Simon takes a few steps closer to him. "I am literally a blood-thirsty monster, Jace. Do you hate me? Do you want to kill me? Because if so, you sure have a strange way of showing it. You SAVED me! You stood up against evil to save my life! How is that possibly a bad thing?"

"I changed!" Jace shouts, pushing into Simon's space. "I lost myself! I...I..." the blonde nearly chokes, "I enjoyed killing those Shadowhunters...." A tear rolls down his cheek as he searches Simon's eyes for an answer that isn't there. "I killed so many of them."

"They were going to kill me," Simon reminds him seriously, keeping his tone even and strong. "You're not a monster, you're a warrior. You saved my life and I refuse to feel bad about the people who were trying to take it."

Jace shakes his head, stepping back to get away but Simon stops him by grabbing his forearm.

"You might have gone to the dark side for a moment, Jace, but you didn't stay there and you didn't hurt anyone who wouldn't have hurt you had they been given the chance." Simone moves to get into the other teen's line of sight. "You are a hero, Jace. A hero! If you forget that, so help me, I will say it all day every day until you believe it or Alec shoots me with one of his arrows. Because I'm pretty sure he would. The guy doesn't like me that much."

"Alec doesn't like a lot of people at first."

Simon smiles at the lighter tone from his friend. Jace rolls his eyes as he pulls the darker haired teen in for a hug.

"Thank you, Simon."

"Anytime." 

\---(*)---

**Author's Note:**

> I am legally inclined to state I own nothing.


End file.
